Many people choose to refinance their heloc, or home equity line of credit into a first mortgage with a fixed rate. Your mortgage professional can also arrange to open a new heloc behind the new first mortgage. This allows you to pay your existing debt at a fixed rate while maintaining the convenience of having an available heloc.

If you are considering refinancing take a moment to review your goals for a refinance. Are you looking to consolidate debt, lower your current mortgage rate, shorten your term or make home improvements? How long do you plan on keeping your home? Share this information with your mortgage professional to find the best program for you.

If you are like many home owners who have variable rate home equity lines of credit then you are watching your interest rate slowly climb along with your payment as the prime rate continues to rise. If you have a very small balance on your heloc you do not have much to worry about, but if you have a larger balance you may want to explore what options you have to get into a fixed rate 2nd mortgage or refinance your first mortgage while rates are still low.

When refinancing, keep in mind the mortgage market is highly volatile. Brokers and lenders reset their prices every morning, and sometimes during the day. Unless price quotations from different loan providers are obtained at about the same point in time, they are not comparable.

The costs of a mortgage refinance include a) origination costs – points and other settlement costs, on the new mortgage only; b) monthly payments of principal and interest, on both mortgages; and c) lost interest on (a) and (b), also on both mortgages. Cost offsets on both mortgages are tax savings, and reduction in the loan balance.

In some isolated instances you may qualify for FHA or fannie mae’s type financing if you have decent equity and a good 12 month mortgage history. Sometimes, fannie mae’s will approve a loan through there automated system even if there are some recent mortgage lates and a low credit score.

If you are over 62 and have equity in your home you may qualify for a reverse mortgage. Reverse mortgages do not look at income or credit and can be a solution for borrowers with credit under 500.

Qualifying for a mortgage refinance depends on a variety of factors, including your credit score, whether or not you’ve made any late payments on your current mortgage, and how much equity you have in your current property.

If your credit score is under 500 and you are wanting/needing to refinance you may want to consider working with a credit repair company to improve your credit scores so that you are able to refinance for a better rate. A credit repair company can sometimes improve your score enough to help you qualify for a refinance within as little as 30 days. The fee that you pay them to work on your credit and improve your scores will be well worth it if you can improve your credit enough to help you refinance and/or qualify for a much better rate.

Many people refinance their mortgages in order to consolidate debt into one low monthly payment. By consolidating credit card debt and various other debt you will see various benefit’s. Some of these benefit’s are: one low monthly payment (versus several smaller bills to pay each month), lower interest rate, possibly tax benefit’s (ability to write off mortgage interest and gain that additional tax deduction) and savings of hundreds and possibly even thousands of dollars on your monthly mortgage payments. Therefore, mortgage refinancing can be very beneficial for many people.